Aaron Hughes believes Northern Ireland can qualify for a championship in the not too distant future.

The 23-year-old Newcastle defender led the celebrations on the pitch and in the dressing room after captaining his country for the fourth time.

Northern Ireland looked street-wise in Donetsk, even though nine of the team who started were under 30.

They defended in numbers in this European Championship qualifier to frustrate Ukraine and pick up only their third point in Group Six.

At the end the players hugged each other and swapped high-fives. And the party continued all the way back to Belfast.

Hughes claims there is a special bond between the group, which leaves him optimistic that Northern Ireland can turn the corner.

That elusive victory and goal - they have failed to score in 1062 minutes - could come on Wednesday with Armenia at Windsor Park. Hughes said: "What happened during and after the game emphasised the spirit in the squad. We stick together and help each other out.

"Not only did we want to get a good result we also knew it was important to build on the draw with Spain. Once we got going the lads got on with it.

"It was a good performance, another good defensive performance. We knew it would be hard to come here and score goals and all the rest. If you had given me a 0-0 at the start I think I would have taken it but we deserved something.

"We have shown we can go away and nick a point. Now we need to win our home games and then maybe we have half a chance of qualifying for something.

"Hopefully we can keep the young squad together. It is good to have the likes of Michael Hughes and Keith Gillespie around to add experience. There will be no better time than to get our first win in the campaign when we meet Armenia."